Warmer weather can mean only one thing: "Summertime." The 1991 rap from DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (aka Will Smith) is still a popular song for the season.
With a call for "Drums, please!" the music video opens on the two entertainers as they lounge on lawn chairs, sip cold drinks, and run rhymes.
"School is out and it's sort of a buzz," Smith raps. "But back then I didn't really know what it was / But now I see what have of this / The way that people respond to summer madness / The weather is hot and girls are dressing less."
Smith got his start as a G-rated hip-hop artist and then moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to launch his acting career with a starring role in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." His first hit from 1988, "Parents Just Don't Understand," had already scored a Grammy, and was referenced on the show.
Still, the East Coast transplant missed Philly during a certain time of year, according to Jeff. "Summertime" was born.
"We told the director … we wanted to have a cookout and invite all our family and friends," Jeff recalled. "We knew everyone in that video. They were either one of our friends or one of our family members."
Timed perfectly to debut in June, the track took off. The single, which sampled Kool & the Gang's "Summer Madness," peaked at No. 4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and won a Grammy, the duo's second. The video has more than 4.8 million views.
Not bad for an easygoing song of summer.
— Claudine Zap (@zapkidd)